Self-closing hinge

ABSTRACT

The following specification describes a self-closing cabinet hinge having a spring-biased plastic cam follower that is camouflaged by one of the hinge leaves and also by the door to which the other leaf is fixed.

United States Patent Inventor James R. Deadrick Winston Salem, N.C. Appl. No. 7,877 Filed Feb. 2, 1970 Patented Dec. 28, 1971 Assignee Stewart-Warner Corporation Chicago, Ill.

SELF-CLOSING HINGE 1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 16/142, 16/ l 80 Int. Cl E05d l l/08 Field of Search 16/ 142, 145, 180

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,381,332 5/1968 .lerila et al. 16/145 3,381,333 5/1968 Jerila 16/180 3,255,484 6/1966 MacDonald... l6/l80 3,391,420 7/1968 Anderson 16/142 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay

Assistant Examiner Doris L. Troutman AnorneysAugustus G. Douvas, William .1. Newman and Norton Lesser ABSTRACT: The following specification describes a self-closing cabinet hinge having a spring-biased plastic cam follower that is camouflaged by one of the hinge leaves and also by the door to which the other leaf is fixed.

SELF-CLOSING HINGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to self-closing cabinet hinges and more particularly to a self-closing cabinet hinge having improved appearance and economy for use on overlapped doors.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Self-closing hinges usually utilize a spring-biased follower carried by one hinge leaf for rotating the door to the closed position once the cam follower is aligned with a predetermined position on a cam formed by a knuckle on the other hinge leaf. In one construction a leg extending from the leaf fixed to the frame and between the two spaced knuckles of the leaf holds the cam follower against a cam formed from a knuckle on the other leaf with a coil spring biasing the cam follower against the cam. This type of construction leaves the cam follower exposed to view between the two spaced knuckles of the frame leaf while the relatively expensive coil spring presents assembly problems. Since the follower is usually a plastic and a wide variety of finishes must be provided for the leaves, such as antique brass, copper, chrome or old iron, a serious problem of camouflaging the appearance of the plastic is created.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention takes advantage of the overlapped door construction of the usual cabinet and extends the portion of the door leaf intermediate the knuckles and adjacent the frame surface to retain the follower. The door serves to abut or camouflage the follower on one side and the frame leaf camouflages the follower on the opposite side to eliminate the need for having the plastic follower conform to the finish of the hinge leaves. Additionally, a wire spring member seated in a sloped slot in the cam follower provides an easily assembled economical spring bias for the cam follower.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide a self-closing cabinet hinge with improved means for camouflaging the cam follower.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a more economical self-closing cabinet hinge.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent on examination of the following specification, claims and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an isometric view of a mounted hinge illustrating a fragmentary portion of a cabinet frame and overlapped door;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the underside of the hinge viewed in open position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. I and showing a fragmentary portion of the door in closed position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the hinge similar to FIG. 3 with the hinge and fragmentary portion of the door shown in open position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the cam follower and illustrating the spring assembled thereto; and

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the cam follower.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, a hinge assembly is indicated therein by the reference character 10. The hinge assembly 10 comprises a frame leaf I2 and a door leaf I4 fastened respectively to a frame 16 and a cabinet door 18. The cabinet door 18 overlaps the door frame 16 and is provided with a rabbit adjacent the frame perimeter for nesting in the door frame opening.-

LII

The frame leaf I2 is generally L-shaped with one leg 20 fixed to the frame by means such as screws 22 and the other leg 24 projecting outwardly of the frame. The leg 24 terminates in a knuckle or loop 26 formed for receiving a hinge pin 28. The knuckle 26 extends axially along the midportion of the hinge pin 28 and substantially encircles the pin except where a cutaway or recessed cam' portion 30 is provided adjacent the knuckle portion facing the frame and defining a cam surface 32 projecting radially of the hinge pin.

The other leaf 14 is also L-shaped with one leg 34 fastened to the inside of the door 18 and the other leg 36 bifurcated for terminating in two loops or knuckles 38 wrapped about pin 28 in axially spaced positions adjacent respective ends of the pin. In the event the door I8 is rabitted, the leg 34 is stepped to accommodate the rabbit and if the door is flat, the leg 34 is likewise flat. Intermediate the bifurcated portions of leg 36 a cam retainer 40 is integrally formed on leg 34 projecting in the direction of leaf 12 generally parallel to and adjacent the surface of the frame. A leg 42 projecting in the direction of pin 28 is formed on the end of retained 40 directly adjacent leg 24 and plastic cam follower 44 is nested between the leg 42 and the door 18. A pair of upstanding tangs 46 formed on opposite sides of retainer 40 prevent shifting of the follower axially relative pin 28.

The cam follower is provided with an arcuate surface 48 at the side opposite the side engaging retainer 40 and a wire spring 50 serves to bias the arcuate surface 46 against the loop or knuckle 26. A relieved surface portion 52 adjacent surface 48 seats against cam surface 32 when the hinge is in closed position.

The wire spring 50 has a back leg 54, which engages against retainer 40 and is adapted to nest in a slot 56 formed in the cam follower 44. The leg 54 terminates in arms 58 at opposite ends extending toward the pin and spaced axially to overlap the bifurcations of leg 36. The arms 58 are then bent towards each other to form fingers 60 which extend into the slot 56 and against the back surface of slot 56 to bias the cam follower 44 toward pin 28. A rib 62 on the cam follower, extending into the slot 56, engages the ends of fingers 60 to prevent axial shifting of the spring 50.

To assemble the hinge I0, the cam follower 44 with the spring 50 nested in slot 56, is seated against the retainer 40 and leg 42 of leaf 12. The knuckles 38 on leaf I4 are then brought into alignment with knuckle 26 with surface 48 engaged in the cutout or recess 30 of knuckle 26 so that the pressure of spring 50 against retainer 40 is partially relieved. The pin 28 usually having a head at one end, is inserted through the knuckles 26 and 38 and the other or both ends beaded to prevent the pin and leaves from disassembling during handling. The pressure of spring 50 maintains the cam follower 44 in position; however, if it should be inadvertently pushed toward the opening formed by bifurcated leg 36, the portion of spring 50 overlapping the leg 36 prevents the disengagement of the cam follower from between the legs 24 and 36.

When the hinge is mounted, as for example indicated in FIGS. I and 3, the cam follower 44 is camouflaged on one side by the leg 24 of leaf I2 and on the opposite side by the door 18 so that a wide variety of metal finishes can be applied to leaves 12 and 14 without undue concern over thecolor or finish of the follower 44.

On opening of the door 18, pressure exerted by surface against relieved surface 52 on the cam follower to press the follower against retainer 40 and tension spring 50. Thereafter, arcuate surface 48 engages with the corresponding arcuate surface of knuckle 26 as the door I8 continues to move into the open position shown in FIG. 4 with the door of course camouflaging the follower 44.

On closing movement of the door 18, and as the arcuate surface 48 moves past surface 32, the spring 50 is able to release its'tension by driving the cam follower 44 into the recess 30. This force is exerted against wall 42 in a direction for closing the door 18 and the door is rotated to the closed position with the tension of spring 50 partially relieved as soon as surface 48 is fully seated in recess 30 to latch the door in closed position.

The foregoing is a description of an improved selfclosing and latching hinge whose inventive concepts are believed more fully set forth in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A self-closing and latching cabinet hinge for use with a frame having a door overlapping said frame, the improvement comprising one L-shaped frame leaf having one leg fastened to said frame, another L-shaped door leaf having one leg fastened to the inside of said door, a hinge pin, a knuckle on the end of the other leg of said frame leaf wrapped around said pin intermediate the ends of said pin, a pair of knuckles on the end of the other leg of said door leaf with each door leaf knuckle wrapped around said pin in a respective position spaced axially of said pin on opposite ends of said frame leaf knuckle, a retainer wall integrally formed on said door leaf in a position projecting toward said frame leaf with said retainer wall located axially of said pin in a position overlapped by said frame leaf other leg knuckle and generally parallel and adjacent said frame when said door is closed, a leg integrally formed on the end of said retainer wall opposite said door leaf generally perpendicular to said retainer wall and extending radially toward said pin, a cam follower located between said retainer wall and said pin with an arcuate surface on the side of said cam follower opposite said wall for engaging said frame leaf knuckle, said cam follower being nested against said retainer wall leg with said frame leaf other leg and said overlapping door camouflaging said cam follower, a relieved surface terminating said arcuate surface adjacent said door leaf other leg, a recess in said frame leaf knuckle forming a cam surface with said relieved surface adapted to engage said cam surface in response to said arcuate surface being seated in said recess to latch said door closed, said cam follower having a slot extending axially of said pin and facing said retainer wall, an elongate wire spring having a back leg extending axially of said pin through said slot to a position corresponding to the axial distance between said door leaf pair of knuckles with a finger at each end of said back leg spaced radially of said back leg extending toward each other for engagement in said slot for biasing said follower arcuate surface into said frame leaf knuckle recess to latch said door and for rotating said arcuate surface about said frame leaf knuckle for closing said door in response to said door being in one open position, and a rib in said slot extending radially of said pin for abutting engagement with opposite ends of said wire spring fingers.

i =l 1 i 

1. A self-closing and latching cabinet hinge for use with a frame having a door overlapping said frame, the improvement comprising one L-shaped frame leaf having one leg fastened to said frame, another L-shaped door leaf having one leg fastened to the inside of said door, a hinge pin, a knuckle on the end of the other leg of said frame leaf wrapped around said pin intermediate the ends of said pin, a pair of knuckles on the end of the other leg of said door leaf with each door leaf knuckle wrapped around said pin in a respective position spaced axially of said pin on opposite ends of said frame leaf knuckle, a retainer wall integrally formed on said door leaf in a position projecting toward said frame leaf with said retainer wall located axially of said pin in a position overlapped by said frame leaf other leg knuckle and generally parallel and adjacent said frame when said door is closed, a leg integrally formed on the end of said retainer wall opposite said door leaf generally perpendicular to said retainer wall and extending radially toward said pin, a cam follower located between said retainer wall and said pin with an arcuate surface on the side of said cam follower opposite said wall for engaging said frame leaf knuckle, said cam follower being nested against said retainer wall leg with said frame leaf other leg and said overlapping door camouflaging said cam follower, a relieved surface terminating said arcuate surface adjacent said door leaf other leg, a recess in said frame leaf knuckle forming a cam surface with said relieved surface adapted to engage said cam surface in response to said arcuate surface being seated in said recess to latch said door closed, said cam follower having a slot extending axially of said pin and facing said retainer wall, an elongate wire spring having a back leg extending axially of said pin through said slot to a position corresponding to the axial distance between said door leaf pair of knuckles with a finger at each end of said back leg spaced radially of said back leg extending toward each other for engagement in said slot for biasing said follower arcuate surface into said frame leaf knuckle recess to latch said door and for rotating said arcuate surface about said frame leaf knuckle for closing said door in response to said door being in one open position, and a rib in said slot extending radially of said pin for abutting engagement with opposite ends of said wire spring fingers. 